Adding beneficial fats to coffee or tea has become very popular lately, but did you know you can add other healthy ingredients to your Keto Coffee? Often referred to as Bulletproof coffee (for the brand which has popularized the concept), I refer to this as Keto Coffee because it is a great way to supplement your ketogenic diet.

If you aren’t familiar with a Ketogenic Diet, this is when you have used your diet to train your body to run on fat as fuel (instead of sugar or carbs), which then produces ketones. The presence of ketones in your blood indicates that your body is burning fat (which is a good thing!), but ketones are also a preferred fuel source for your brain. Following a ketogenic diet will not only help with weight-loss but can also help sharpen the brain daily and reduce cognitive decline in the long-term. If you aren’t familiar with the terms ketogenic, ketone, ketosis, keto-adapting, fat-adapting - please read my eBook The Real Health Guide to the Ketogenic Diet and watch the webinar of the same title.

One of the more useful tools while following a low-carb or ketogenic diet is Keto Coffee. Giving your body some good ketogenic fats early in the day can kickstart you into ketosis (fat-burning) and help keep you there the rest of the day.

A powerful tool to utilize with a ketogenic diet is intermittent fasting, most commonly performed by skipping breakfast and remaining in a fasted state until later in the day. This fasting period allows your blood sugar to stay low and allows your body to continue to rest and digest, which has been shown to boost fat-burning hormones dramatically in both men and women. When combined with intermittent fasting, keto coffee can give your body good ketogenic fats while not affecting your blood sugar, which keeps you in a fasted state and keeps your body in fat-burning mode.

Below I outline six ingredients I put in my own Keto Coffee, the first two being the most important. I don’t typically do all six because I feel like it’s too much, but I’ve tried every combo of these six ingredients. My number one Keto Coffee recommendation is to BLEND YOUR KETO COFFEE IN A HIGH SPEED BLENDER! This only takes about 10 seconds but it will emulsify the fats and turn your coffee into a frothy, creamy, delicious treat. I wouldn’t want Keto Coffee without blending it!

1. MCT Oil

Medium Chain Triglycerides, or MCTs are found in coconut and palm oils and are your body’s fastest source of energy and best source of ketogenic fats. Medium Chain refers to the length of the fatty acid chain - either 6, 8, or 10 carbons long (Read our article here on 3 Must-Have’s For Your Ketogenic Diet to learn more about MCTs). MCTs are the most ketogenic fats because when the chain is shorter the fats don’t need to be broken down by the liver, so these MCT fats can bypass the liver and be immediately available in the brain and body as energy. To give you an idea of how much faster the metabolism is - MCTs can be made into ATP (cellular energy) in 3 steps, while sugar takes 26 metabolic steps! MCT Oil can be used as salad dressing and put on almost any keto meal, but the best way is to add it into your coffee or tea and get those good ketogenic fats early in the morning while in a fasted state. A general rule of thumb is 2 tablespoons of MCT oil each day while on a low-carb or ketogenic diet.

2. Grass-Fed Butter

MCT Oil and Grass-Fed butter are the most popular additions to coffee because of their ketogenic properties - fueling your brain, reducing your cravings, and stimulating fat-burning for the rest of the day. Grass-fed butter has many brain and health benefits. It contains good Omega-3 fats (which are lacking in our diet) which help the integrity of your cellular membranes, it contains Conjugated Linoleic Acid which has been shown to help fat-burning, and it contains short chain fatty acids which are very ketogenic and provide quick energy. It is very important that your butter is grass-fed, as conventional butter does not have nearly the same benefits and can actually be harmful.

Just like MCT oil, grass-fed butter is a great addition to any keto meal, but the best way to take it is to start your day by adding it to your coffee and blending and consuming it in a fasted state. This gives your body another source of great fats for brain fuel, it kickstarts fat-burning, reduces cravings, all while keeping your blood sugar low and encouraging further ketosis or fat-burning. A general rule of thumb with grass-fed butter on a low-carb ketogenic diet is also 2 tablespoons per day added to your diet. The most popular brand is Kerrygold, which can now be found at Costco. Get the unsalted and add your own salt!

Real Salt (Sea Salt, Pink Himalayan Salt, Celtic Salt, etc)

One side effect of lowering carbs and lowering insulin is that your body excretes more of its sodium, which can create electrolyte imbalances and lead to what’s known as the ‘keto flu’. This can be avoided by increasing real salt intake (Sea Salt, Himalayan Pink Salt, Celtic Salt, etc). Salt can be added to all keto meals or it can be taken in a glass of water, but a pinch of salt in your keto coffee can be a very nice addition (too much can ruin it though!). Start small with the salt and increase as your taste buds prefer. A general rule of thumb with increasing real salt on a low-carb or ketogenic diet is 2 teaspoons per day.

Cinnamon

I love the taste of cinnamon, so I add it to everything (meat, salads, etc), but my favorite is my keto coffee. Cinnamon not only adds great flavor, but is incredibly high in antioxidant capacity and has been even been shown to help balance blood sugar levels, so it’s not just for taste! I make sure my cinnamon is organic to minimize any contamination with toxins.

Cayenne Pepper

I’ve only recently started trying this, but when combined with the creaminess of the good fats from MCT oil and grass-fed butter, cayenne can add an amazing new flavor to your coffee while also providing further health benefits. Like adding salt, a little bit goes a long way and too much will quickly ruin it, so start small! Once again I only choose organic spices to avoid contamination with toxins.

Gelatin (Collagen) Protein

Gelatin is a great source of collagen, a prominent protein in connective tissue. One of the major reasons that bone broth is so beneficial is the gelatin and collagen that is pulled from the bones. Gelatin is great for the digestive tract and other connective tissues because it provides amino acids that are often lacking in our diet and provides an abundant source of collagen protein. For this reason, gelatin is touted to help hair and nail growth, improve joint health, increase skin elasticity reducing wrinkles and cellulite, and even improve the quality of sleep.

Adding gelatin to your keto coffee is great because it can provide additional protein building blocks while having no effect on blood sugar, allowing your body to remain in a fasted state. I personally don’t enjoy the texture in my coffee. Once again the suggested method is to start small and make sure you enjoy the taste (there isn’t much taste) and texture, blend in a high speed blender, and enjoy!